Helmut Schmidt would have been 105 years old this Saturday. He is still legendary in his hometown of Hamburg today for his courageous intervention during the storm surge in February 1962. By calling in the military for help, the Hanseatic city’s then police senator saved many people’s lives.
A few years later, between 1974 and 1982, Helmut Schmidt was the fifth Chancellor of Germany in a social-liberal coalition.
Schmidt, who died in November 2015, was involved in current political issues until shortly before his death; his words carried weight. Since 1983 he has been co-editor of the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit”.
Just based on these short key words from the life of Helmut Schmidt, it seems incomprehensible that someone would desecrate his grave with Nazi graffiti. But that’s exactly what happened now, around his birthday on December 23rd: As NDR and several other media outlets report, the grave of Helmut Schmidt and his wife Loki was daubed with swastikas.
There were three of these Nazi symbols in a bright orange color, according to NDR. The graffiti was discovered on Friday evening. State security is investigating, it said. According to the police, it is unclear who the perpetrator or perpetrators were and what the motives for this act could be. The graffiti has now been removed.
Helmut and Loki Schmidt are buried in the cemetery in Hamburg-Ohlsdorf. The gravesite is decorated with a simple stone. Loki Schmidt died in October 2010, about five years before her husband. She was 91 years old. Helmut Schmidt died on November 10, 2015 at the age of 96.
Sources: NDR, “Die Zeit”
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